Carving out a mom cave of her own

Kelly Porter had an office inside her Ellicott City home, but she never used it. Each day she would set up shop with her laptop at the kitchen island.

The home office, which her family of five shared, "never felt right," says the designer and color consultant (http://www.porterhousedesigns.com). "I never felt comfortable. I never felt inspired."

Understandably so. With wall-to-wall hunter green carpeting, beige wallpaper and a combination of dark and medium-toned wood furniture, the 10-by-12-foot space felt much more masculine — and much less colorful — than Porter, 42, preferred. While the look satisfied the men in her house (a husband, a 14-year-old son and 11-year-old twin sons), Porter pined for something that was a little more her style.

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